You need to have means for aiming at what you are shooting at. The A-10 is not meant to shoot other aircraft with that cannon. But the whole point of using cannon fire or machine gun fire is moot as the article stated. They tried that once upon a time. Shot the envelope up to the point of hundreds of holes, but it made no difference. (You have a poor conception of how large these balloons become when they are fully inflated at altitude. And there is very little overpressure in the balloon.)
Even with that aside, an F-16 is meant to pursue a target and shoot at it. The relative airspeed is low. With something almost stationary, the F-16 would be closing at its flight velocity. There is a question whether the firing system could close a solution under those conditions. (It is a variation of the shooting at a moving target problem. Just because the target is moving toward you does not mean it is not a ballistics problem.)
Interesting idea. The AH-64 Apache attack helicopter has a service ceiling of 20,000 feet. So also the CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopter. No flamethrower has ever been mounted on a helicopter. Too much danger of flame ingestion by the engines. But machine gun fire would be possible. The problem, of course, as the lead article pointed out, is that you can shoot one of these balloons full of holes and it will have very little effect on its buoyancy. So, I think it is a non-starter.
A-10 warthog. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrt. Down.
The A-10 can only shoot at ground targets. It has no means of using the cannon for air-to-air engagements, as it is NOT designed for dogfights.
Dogfight? It's a balloon slowly drifting through the sky. Get an f16 then, they have machine guns.
You need to have means for aiming at what you are shooting at. The A-10 is not meant to shoot other aircraft with that cannon. But the whole point of using cannon fire or machine gun fire is moot as the article stated. They tried that once upon a time. Shot the envelope up to the point of hundreds of holes, but it made no difference. (You have a poor conception of how large these balloons become when they are fully inflated at altitude. And there is very little overpressure in the balloon.)
Even with that aside, an F-16 is meant to pursue a target and shoot at it. The relative airspeed is low. With something almost stationary, the F-16 would be closing at its flight velocity. There is a question whether the firing system could close a solution under those conditions. (It is a variation of the shooting at a moving target problem. Just because the target is moving toward you does not mean it is not a ballistics problem.)
How bout helicopter mounted with flame thrower??
I’m sure Airwolf or Bluethunder are up for the task!
Interesting idea. The AH-64 Apache attack helicopter has a service ceiling of 20,000 feet. So also the CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopter. No flamethrower has ever been mounted on a helicopter. Too much danger of flame ingestion by the engines. But machine gun fire would be possible. The problem, of course, as the lead article pointed out, is that you can shoot one of these balloons full of holes and it will have very little effect on its buoyancy. So, I think it is a non-starter.
<flips table again>